CHICAGO | General Developments

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Well.. I can confirm that the German population erupted off the California Pink Line CTA stop!

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...-up-at-embassy

All kidding aside, I believe creative incubators like Lacuna Artist Lofts and large employers like Cinespace and Lagunitas Brewery are increasing the ethnic and economic diversity of the area. Depaul University now has a stage at Cinespace for film students (https://newsline.depaul.edu/Pages/Ci...mstudents.aspx). As someone mentioned earlier, Thalia Hall is pulling in some heavy hitter musicians that normally play The Metro or The Vic. Red Moon Theater recently relocated to Pilsen. You also have a world class BMX facility (http://insidethebakery.com) owned and operated by local X-Games professional. It is amazing to think that Pilsen is the first Chicago experience for many professional bmxers from around the world (Australia, France, Germany).

My one good friend who is a Charlie Trotters alumni and an executive chef at many fine dining restaurants told me that he was considering opening a restaurant in Pilsen.

In other news, I was shopping at a boutique a few weekends ago and the owner told me that a small garment industry is emerging in East Garfield Park. Stock Manufacturing (https://www.stockmfg.co) is one of facilities attracting local designers.

Everything you just wrote was like porn to me. Love it...by the way, I think stockmfg.co is actually in West Garfield Park. Regardless - very cool.

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by george

Attended the 1345 Wabash party last night. Units are compact with a mix of exposed concrete and slick kitchens & baths.

Some are shit layouts though. Also, they are pulling that partial wall bedroom bullshit. That loophole needs to be slammed shut on developers faces.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

In other news, I was shopping at a boutique a few weekends ago and the owner told me that a small garment industry is emerging in East Garfield Park. Stock Manufacturing (https://www.stockmfg.co) is one of facilities attracting local designers.

Can confirm, a friend of mine works for some trunk-clubesque business over there. The Kinzie warehouse district is getting hot now that a lot of businesses have been pushed in that direction out of the West Loop.

[SamInTheLoop]

^^ True, there's nobody - at least at this type of size project - that employs partial height bedroom walls with the enthusiasm of CMK. It's as if it's a core part of their business model. I do think they should probably not be allowed under code.....

Having said that, again, I do like the CMK projects from the outside - which is of course most important on these pages....

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

^^ True, there's nobody - at least at this type of size project - that employs partial height bedroom walls with the enthusiasm of CMK. It's as if it's a core part of their business model. I do think they should probably not be allowed under code.....

Having said that, again, I do like the CMK projects from the outside - which is of course most important on these pages....

^ This is because many of CMK projects are oriented towards investors who want to buy condos and lease them out.

Investors could care less about the partial bedroom walls as long as they can fetch $1600 for a 1 bedroom condo

[Rizzo]

What a wonky layout. The funny thing is if you removed the tiny master bedroom it would be the same square footage as my old studio apartment which contained a couple non-useful 'rooms' that couldn't be used for sleeping.

[Mikemak27]

Why would they create half walls when both of these bedrooms have windows in them. It's one thing if there is none and it's a lofted bedroom on the interior of the unit, but this is a totally different circumstance.

[tjp]

Originally Posted by Justin_Chicago

Well.. I can confirm that the German population erupted off the California Pink Line CTA stop!

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140...-up-at-embassy

All kidding aside, I believe creative incubators like Lacuna Artist Lofts and large employers like Cinespace and Lagunitas Brewery are increasing the ethnic and economic diversity of the area. Depaul University now has a stage at Cinespace for film students (https://newsline.depaul.edu/Pages/Ci...mstudents.aspx). As someone mentioned earlier, Thalia Hall is pulling in some heavy hitter musicians that normally play The Metro or The Vic. Red Moon Theater recently relocated to Pilsen. You also have a world class BMX facility (http://insidethebakery.com) owned and operated by local X-Games professional. It is amazing to think that Pilsen is the first Chicago experience for many professional bmxers from around the world (Australia, France, Germany).

My one good friend who is a Charlie Trotters alumni and an executive chef at many fine dining restaurants told me that he was considering opening a restaurant in Pilsen.

In other news, I was shopping at a boutique a few weekends ago and the owner told me that a small garment industry is emerging in East Garfield Park. Stock Manufacturing (https://www.stockmfg.co) is one of facilities attracting local designers.

Nice. Thanks for the excellent intel!

[wierdaaron]

As a south looper I temporarily considered 1345 S Wab as I'm going to have to stop renting eventually. I know the northern views are going to disappear as soon as the apartments are built, but an eastern unit might have decent northeast views of the lake/park/loop... then I saw that the eastern units have those whack-ass layouts, so I stopped considering.

[Ryanrule]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

Why would they create half walls when both of these bedrooms have windows in them. It's one thing if there is none and it's a lofted bedroom on the interior of the unit, but this is a totally different circumstance.

I am not sure if that corner unit has them, but others do.


regardless, it is total and complete bullshit. it should be shut down, and every unit in the city with one of those fake bedrooms loses a bedroom in its listing. problem, solved.

[marothisu]

The Harrison Red Line stop received a building permit yesterday to start its renovations.

[wierdaaron]

Originally Posted by marothisu

The Harrison Red Line stop received a building permit yesterday to start its renovations.

That's good, because they've been doing it for months now.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

That's good, because they've been doing it for months now.

Right, but this is some extra stuff that was announced in mid April:
http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2...-10m-rehab.php

I haven't been to that stop for a few months though.

[wierdaaron]

^Yeah, I'm pretty close with the guy who wrote that Curbed article. They've been working on the station since almost right after the announcement, but maybe that was all work that didn't need a permit or fell under a previous permit. I haven't been down there, I just see the crews and entrance closures from street level.

[george]

Originally Posted by Mikemak27

Why would they create half walls when both of these bedrooms have windows in them. It's one thing if there is none and it's a lofted bedroom on the interior of the unit, but this is a totally different circumstance.

The half walls are on the interior bedrooms closest to the building core. A lot of buyers aren't fond of the open wall loft concept. Some residents install the fixed or sliding glass panels in that open space for added privacy yet still let in light/air when needed. (pictured at top of photo, from 235 Van Buren)

[george]

6-4

Rumored future location of Leghorn Chicken. 1st location at Western & Augusta.

[r18tdi]

Heard a rumor the Mid-North Neighbors finally filed their lawsuit against the CMH redevelopment. Details still sketchy.

[marothisu]

Here's some development numbers I pulled from my personal building permits database. This is from 1/1/2014 through 6/4/2014. Number of new construction permits issued per type (vacant/tear down is estimated from Google Maps)

Single Family Homes
Vacant lot: 89
Tear downs: 144
TOTAL: 233 single family homes

Multi-unit Buildings
Vacant lot: 2174 units (57 buildings)
Tear down: 666 units (57 buildings)
TOTAL: 2840 units (114 buildings)


There is also stuff for transitional living..3 more buildings for that. 84 units for vacant lots and 391 for tear down. And of course, there could be more for conversions. I wonder how these compare to previous years.

EDIT: At this period last year it was 2312 units for multi family buildings (78 bldgs) and 186 SFHs. That's an increase of 23% for multi unit building units and 25% increase for single family homes for this year compared to last.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ This is because many of CMK projects are oriented towards investors who want to buy condos and lease them out.

Investors could care less about the partial bedroom walls as long as they can fetch $1600 for a 1 bedroom condo

So, I'm always thinking in terms of end user market conditions.....the question is in what universe are these unit layouts acceptable to renters at such a price point, particularly in an institutional rental market as supply-unconstrained as Chicago? Would you say renters in the shadow market are of lower quality in aggregate (lower credit scores, employment/criminal history, proof of income, what have you) than in the formal institutional rental market? That's one possible explanation I can think of - 'lower quality' renters can land a new construction unit from individual owners with much more lax standards. The business model here could essentially be a play on unsophisticated (present virtual company most presumably excluded) mom and pop investors - with a huge assist from low interest rates!

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

So, I'm always thinking in terms of end user market conditions.....the question is in what universe are these unit layouts acceptable to renters at such a price point, particularly in an institutional rental market as supply-unconstrained as Chicago? Would you say renters in the shadow market are of lower quality in aggregate (lower credit scores, employment/criminal history, proof of income, what have you) than in the formal institutional rental market? That's one possible explanation I can think of - 'lower quality' renters can land a new construction unit from individual owners with much more lax standards. The business model here could essentially be a play on unsophisticated (present virtual company most presumably excluded) mom and pop investors - with a huge assist from low interest rates!

I can't speak to other investors, but I will say that my condo has always rented out to credit worthy professionals with good incomes, or at least credit worthy students whose parents cosigned their leases.

Right now I have a guy from China who just took a job for a trading firm in the Loop who wants to lease my condo without having seen it. His parents back in China will be helping support him financially.

Whether you call that "lower quality" renter remains to be seen, but as long as money is deposited in your account that is all that matters.